The purpose of these notes is to create a much more pleasant atmosphere and to make the game of bridge more enjoyable for all.
Most of us know everything that is written below but it is good to review our ETIQUETTE every now and then...
Duties of Members/ Visitors:
i. Members are expected to be seated by 6.55pm in order to assist the Tournament Director.
ii. Casual tidy is the accepted minimum Dress Code.
iii. Mobile Phones: You can have them with you but switch them off for the evening.
iv. Smoking is not allowed in the building
v. Make yourself a coffee in the kitchen but remember to clean your cup afterwards and tidy up any mess you create.
vi. Be friendly and courteous at all times.
vii. Never criticise or offer advice unless asked.
Comments beginning ‘You should have…….’ or
‘Why didn’t you……’ often offend even if they are not intended to!
If problems do occur at the Table (including those referred to under local pointers), the Event Director should always be called at the moment the problem occurs.
viii. The opening lead should be made face downward in case the lead is accidentally made from the wrong side.
ix. Only North should handle the boards.
The board in play should be left visible so that all can see the vulnerability during the play of the hand.
x. Hands should normally played out to determine the number of tricks won-after all we all come to the club to play our cards!
In exceptional circumstances e.g. to save time a player may claim a small number of winners which happen to be in one hand.
A player may of course ask the claimant to continue to play the cards.
Don’t pick up your cards at the end of the hand until you have agreed with opponents the number of tricks made.
xi. Please save post-mortems until the end of the round if you have time left, to avoid delaying other people.
Kep the discussion quiet. You don’t want the next table to hear do you?
It is normal bridge etiquette not to attempt to gain from any information gained inadvertently from infringement of
rules or from other tables. Players should not make a particular bid, lead or play if it can be alleged they have
done so because of unauthorised information-unless it is clear that nearly all Bridge players would have taken the same action.
xii. Bridgepad Protocol
There is an impression that only North is allowed to do anything.
Players assume North has to Score, look after the Boards, put the Boards down correctly, move the Boards and so on.
But according to the Laws, only moving the Boards (i.e. 1-->2), and checking the orientation on the Board, is the specific
responsibility of North.
Scoring can be done by anyone at the Table
If the Board is laid on a Table such that North’s cards are taken by East etc. both pairs will be at fault.
The players must check that they have taken from the correct docket, and have 13 cards
n.b. An error at the point will result in both N/S and E/W being penalised by the Director
North also cannot be held responsible for the length of time it takes the Board to be played.
However if it’s not a Howell type movement and North is sitting North all night he/she has a
primary responsibility to maintaining proper conditions of play and that includes reducing the debates on hands until after all the Boards have been played
Bridgepads
The Director/Scorer will place the Bridgepad on theTable, but only press “Pwr” and “next” when “Bridgpads Activated” is announced.
Then:-
1. Enter the Table No. then the Players names.
Check the input is correct. If a player doesn’t know or is unsure of their number, put in “0”, and inform the Director when the Boards are presented for play.
Don’t go running around trying to find a player’s number. The Director can input the player easily at the computer, if he knows he has to do it!
2. Inform your opponents of their E/W No. then press next and read off what boards you are to play.
The Director/Scorer will now place the Boards to play on the Table
3. Now check and play the Board:-
a. Correct Boards? Agrees with Pad?
b. Orientation OK?
c. Each hand has 13 cards?
d. Announce the Dealer ?
AUCTION
e. Input the Contract?
f. Play the Hand?
g. Input the Tricks made?
4.. Now pass the Bridgepad to East who checks the input, and passes the Pad back to North, without pressing Next.
n.b. At his point E/W and N/S will be fined by the Director if the score input is wrong.
5. North presses Next and Next again to view and announce the % given to N/S.
6. If N/S have played the hand then North presses Next again to look at other scores.
If E/W have played the hand, North hands the Pad to East to allow that pair to view the results.
Please remember that the next table are liable to hear loud comments, so keep it quiet.
7. Shuffle your hand and return the hand to its docket.
n.b. At his point E/W and N/S will be fined by the Director if the hands are placed in the wrong dockets
8. Press Next to Finish the Board.
Go back to point 3. for next hand etc
9. Watch your Time:- Don’t rush but remember this
Playing 21 boards/session --- 11 mins/board
24 --- 9 mins/board
27 ---- 7 mins/board
Both N/S and E/W should raise the issue of time if they believe they are going over these times.
n.b. If this happens the Director will stop the players playing a Board if they have fallen behind and are disrupting the flow of the play.
Laws: The generally accepted Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge apply.
This is a small friendly club and here are a few local pointers that may help you: -
1- Psyches Outright psyches are frowned upon. This is because many inexperienced players in our club cannot handle them.
2- Revokes If the opposition revoke and it is not immediately spotted, the rules say to call the Director and this is what you should do.
3- Count your cards
The rules clearly state that a player should count his cards – without looking at them – before doing anything else.
If a hand is into the playing stage before somebody discovers that they have the incorrect number of cards then the hand has to be scrapped for
that table (and the Director has to sort out the mess). So the guilty party(s) will be given a penalty and the non-offending parties will receive an adjusted (favourable) score.
4- Bidding Boxes A call is regarded as made when a bidding card has been taken out of the bidding box with apparent intent.
A player is obliged to make up his mind before he touches any bidding card in the box.
Hesitation between bids, when touching the bidding cards, is bad practise and partner could be liable to penalty if advantage was taken of any unauthorised information coming from such behaviour.
A call may be changed without penalty when all the following conditions are fulfilled:
a- The player has inadvertently taken out the wrong bidding card and;
b- the player corrects, or attempts to correct, without pause for thought.
5- System. If you play an unusual system that is allowed by the WBU it is polite to inform the opposition when you first meet.
Have a convention card.
6- Announcements. All conventional bids are to be alerted by the partner of the bidder using the “Alert Card”- an explanation is only given to be given by
the alerter, if requested by the opponents at their turn.
The use of the “jump bid” is to be preceded by placing the “Stop Card” on the table– after the use of the “Stop Card” the following
player must pause for a standard period (i.e. 10seconds) before making any bid, including pass. A longer pause is bad practice and
a penalty if any would be on the partner who took advantage of any unauthorised information coming from this..
It is best is to simply announce ‘12-14' or ‘15-17' or whatever when partner opens 1NT. Similarly you can simply state ‘transfer' if partner
makes a transfer bid over your 1NT opening or overcall and announce natural' if a 2♦/♥ bid over your 1NT is natural.
And if a 1♣ opening can be 2 card you should announce ‘may be short'
7- Questions. During the auction, you may ask questions (to the partner of the opponent who made the bid) at your turn to bid or play a card.
Unless it affects your action, it is generally recommended not asking questions until the end of the auction. Any questions
should be about the whole auction and not a particular bid.
If a bid is not alerted it is taken as natural and to ask if an unalerted bid is natural is not allowed.
Questions may also be asked by declarer about the play of the cards by defenders.
For example, do not ask opponents what type of Blackwood they are playing or how many Aces etc have been shown, wait
until after the auction unless it affects a decision that you may make.
If you are defending and you are on lead, then you should ask questions before leading. When you lead, it should always be
face down and you say ‘Questions partner?' or ‘OK?'. Your partner may then ask questions before the opening lead is
revealed. If you are not on lead and partner has a propensity to lead face up, then ask him to lead face down, especially if you have a question.
8-The action of dummy after the auction has been completed.
As dummy you should put your cards facedown straightaway. This signals that you are dummy and therefore who is on lead. Once the lead is made you can return the
bidding cards to the box .
9-Calling for Dummy's Card
If declarer has something like ♦ QJ109872 and calls for a ♦ then the rules say that declarer implies the lowest card.
And suppose a player has a holding such as AQ and the lead comes up to this holding with the intention of finessing but the
king appears and he inadvertently goes through with the ‘finesse' and plays the queen, then he should be paying more attention and
cannot replace it.
10- Passed Out. Standard rules are pretty clear here – if a deal is passed out then you press PASS on the Bridgepad and move on to the next board.
But our club is basically a friendly club where people want to play Bridge – and not sit out when others are playing. So if a board is passed out on the first round
(i.e. when the hands are shuffled) it should be re-dealt.
11- Prepared Boards We sometimes play prepared boards and hope that the points are roughly evenly distributed between N-S and E-W over the complete set of boards so that both sides
have approximately equal chances of defending/declaring etc. Usually we get a hand print-out at the end, and use it to determine how we ought to have bid and played the hand.
12- Cards on the Table During the play, all players should place the cards played down in the correct orientation - longways when the trick is won and sideways when lost- as they are played.
At the end of the deal the number of tricks should be agreed and input made to the computer before the hands are returned to board.
If there is a dispute about tricks won and the director is called then the Director will usually be on the side of a player who still has his has his cards laid out ‘correctly' in front of him.
13- Reviewing the cards played to the last trick.
The strict rules of bridge do not allow you to see the last trick once everybody has turned their card over. This can cause problems (uncertainty as to where the lead is etc.) and with the large number
of inexperienced players at our friendly club we do relax this rule so that anybody may ask to see the cards for the last trick before any card is played to the next one.
The purpose of these notes is to create a much more pleasant atmosphere and to make the game of bridge more enjoyable for all.
The following are some examples of commendable behaviour that will significantly contribute to an improved atmosphere:
- being a good 'host' or 'guest' at the table;
- greeting others in a friendly manner;
- praising the bidding and/or play of the opponents;
- and having a clearly completed convention card readily available to the opponents .
The following are some examples of behaviour which will not be tolerated: -
Angry gestures; badgering; rudeness;insinuations; intimidation; profanity; threats or violence; negative comments concerning opponent's or partner's play or bidding;
gloating over good results;constant and gratuitous lessons and analyses at the table; arguing with the Director's ruling.
Call the Director immediately, if a player at the table offends or behaves in an unacceptable manner.
Please do not retaliate at the table nor wait to complain to a Committee Member afterwards, as it more difficult to resolve the complaint at a later time.
Annoying behaviour, embarrassing remarks, or any other conduct which might interfere with the enjoyment of the game is specifically prohibited.
The Director has the authority to assess disciplinary penalties.
Prepared by
A.W. Lightbody Secretary 10th June 2010..
Authorised by The PBC Committee 10th June 2010
Revised by J. Salisbury April 2011
Revised by A.Lightbody/J. Salisbury May 2014
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